The appellants, non-band aboriginal communities, challenged their exclusion from the proceeds of Ontario's first reserve-based commercial casino (the First Nations Fund).
The province had restricted the distribution of the fund to First Nations communities registered as bands under the Indian Act.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that the exclusion did not violate s. 15(1) of the Charter, as the casino project was a targeted ameliorative program designed to support the self-reliance and self-government of First Nations bands, and the exclusion did not demean the appellants' human dignity.
The Court also held that the province did not act ultra vires its jurisdiction under s. 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867, as it was simply exercising its spending power.
